The present invention relates to mower conditioners and more specifically relates to a manner of providing tension for yieldably biasing a vertically swingable upper conditioner roll towards a fixed lower conditioner roll.
The upper roll of a double roll conditioner is normally carried by a pair of pivotally mounted arms whereby it is allowed to float vertically to compensate for uneven crop flow. The upper roll is spring-loaded toward the lower roll to maintain a pressure on the crop as it passes between the rolls. The upper roll pressure can be manually adjusted to accommodate various crop types, e.g., sorghums, rhizomes, legumes, etc. Most mower conditioners have a roll tension system that has its own spring or springs. Recently, some mower conditioners have been constructed such that the header float springs also supply the biasing force to the upper conditioner roll. Examples of such structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,733,796; 3,881,301 and 4,843,804. While such double use of the float springs is advantageous, the linkage required to permit such use is often rather complex.